Host a local event with the legendary organizer and lecturer!

We’re very pleased to share the exciting news that we’ve rescheduled the Swing Left Academy: Live! event with legendary organizer and Harvard University senior lecturer Marshall Ganz for Saturday, August 18th!

Almost 50 volunteers stepped up to be local hosts for our first SLA: Live! event earlier this month and it was a huge success with almost 1,000 participants around the country. So let’s keep the momentum going and make this one even bigger!

Marshall Ganz has been organizing for over five decades, including work alongside Cesar Chavez, and he helped build the innovative organizing model for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. During this powerful live event, he will cover one of the most essential organizing skills, public narrative. Then you’ll see how sharing your personal story impacts and improves every aspect of your work as an activist.

The entire day will be streamed live from Cambridge to living rooms around the country—so volunteers can come together at an event near them to watch, learn, and participate in a series of interactive exercises with fellow activists.

All you need is a comfortable space of any size, a good Internet connection, and a computer with a television or monitor to accommodate your guests. We’ll take care of the rest by providing materials and guidance for hosting a successful event.

What: Host a Swing Left Academy: Live! with Marshall Ganz eventWhen: Saturday, August 18, 12pm – 5pm ET ( 9am – 2pm PT)Where: Your own home, office, or other suitable venueWhy: Help local volunteers get schooled in the skills that will help take back the House in November

Part two of this experience is to put Ganz’s teachings to use—by going out and taking action in your local Swing District the next day (or the following weekend). That’s where you’ll see first-hand how sharing your personal story makes all the difference when you’re calling voters and knocking doors.

By hosting an SLA: Live! training you’ll also get to work on your own organizing skills by bringing other volunteers together to participate. Investing in these skills now is how we are going to win in November!

P.S. If you have any questions or want to know more about hosting, feel free to contact our team at academy@swingleft.org. Thanks again and I really hope you can take part in this exciting weekend of action!

Date: Wed, Jul 25, 2018 at 10:44 PMSubject: Fwd: The election is just 100 days away—let’s get to work!

Hey Progressive Democrats of Benicia,

This weekend marks 100 days until the midterm elections. What we’ve accomplished so far has been incredible—and the Big Blue Wave is gaining momentum every day—but to win this fight, we need to keep working hard.

So, if you’ve already signed up for an event in the coming weeks, thank you. If you haven’t: what are you waiting for? This weekend is jam-packed with opportunities to help campaigns in more than 50 swing districts around the country!

Sign up for the event nearest you (click the image – or here – to go to SwingLeft – scroll down to Events and enter your zip code to see nearby events).

Talking to voters is what wins elections. Whether it’s knocking on doors and meeting face-to-face, or joining a group phone bank, every hour you put into connecting with potential voters makes a huge difference. And that’s how we’re gonna flip the House this November.

State Dems giving House Republicans run for their money

By John Wildermuth, July 22, 2018Click image for larger display

Democrats looking to flip GOP-held House seats in California are turning in surprisingly strong fundraising performances as the election approaches — a sign, they hope, of an insurgent energy that will be needed to win districts that have gone Republican for decades.

But votes, not dollars, are what make election winners, and GOP leaders are convinced they have the issues to bring their voters to the polls in November.

Democrats outraised their GOP opponents in 10 of the state’s 14 Republican-held congressional districts in the three months that ended June 30, in some cases by huge margins, according to campaign finance reports made public by the Federal Election Commission.